Cardozo's three straight PSAL city title teams were led by players from Stellar.Kendall Rodriguez

Kert Fernandez sat in the bleachers Wednesday afternoon at Long Island City HS. As he waited for his Newcomers boys volleyball team to play the host Bulldogs, he watched as Academy of American Studies routed Aviation. Fernandez couldn’t help but marvel at the potential of budding American Studies sophomore Conrad Zajkowski, a 6-foot-4 middle hitter.

“He’s the kind of kid who right now if he had one season of club he would have made this team 10 times stronger,” Fernandez said. “He could by his senior year be [a college] player – if he plays club. If he doesn’t play club, three months out of the year isn’t enough. He needs that experience, of different coaches, playing against better competition, traveling and seeing what this game looks like outside the PSAL.”

For six years, Fernandez was one of those coaches who helped boys volleyball players in the city realize that potential through club. But in an unfortunate turn of events this past winter, the Stellar organization that he helped direct halted operations, leaving players with limited to no options of playing club volleyball in the five boroughs.

A reshuffling in the athletic department at Queens College ousted the Creole Big Apple Volleyball Club for girls after decades practicing at the school. Stellar, which piggybacked off Creole’s practice time at QC, was also left with no home. Creole, run by longtime volleyball guru Merlin Thompson, was taken in by Queens HS of Teaching. But because of the lack of an affordable gym, Stellar was unable to field any teams this past winter.

Fernandez said his organization charged boys just $650 to play, a fee that encompassed everything from high-level tournaments to uniforms to transportation to facility charges – “a steal,” he called it compared to clubs outside the city and even girls clubs. Getting another gym at the right price was difficult and when the prospect of Stellar’s existence in 2010-11 became dismal, coaches Mike Salak and Rony Gilot left to pursue other ventures. Salak, who founded Stellar a year before Fernandez came on board, took an assistant coaching job with the nationally ranked Baruch men’s volleyball team and Gilot is coaching with the brand new All Starr girls club program.

“It’s really about finding a place to make it affordable for the boys,” Fernandez said.

High-school coaches say the affect of kids not playing club can already be seen across the city. The NYC Juniors club on Staten Island also didn’t have a boys team due to a lack of interest, leaving John F. Kennedy coach Iris Bromfield’s Bronx Bombers the only club left for boys inside the city limits. Some elite players, like Bayside’s Tony Koyfman and Hunter’s Joon Ho Baak, found a club in New Jersey — they played for Warren Sixpak — but that is a rare case.

“You’re not only affecting just the PSAL, you’re affecting these kids’ college careers,” said Cardozo coach Danny Scarola, whose three straight championship teams were led by plays from Stellar. “Stellar and other club teams have made kids college players. There’s only so much [high-school coaches] can do with them. These players can’t be great without club.”

Aviation coach Freddie Rodriguez, who has been the PSAL girls commissioner for 19 years, said he expects the level of play in the city to drop off if Fernandez is not able to restart Stellar or if another club doesn’t pop up. That’s more than 30 players who won’t be competing in outside ball every year.

“I was upset,” said Academy of American Studies outside hitter Nino Hot, who played for Stellar last season. “You really need experience. You need to have a lot of touches, especially at a higher level.”

There doesn’t seem to be a real substitute for playing club. The PSAL holds its Big Apple Games in the summer with its coaches training players, for free, in every league sport. But even that is just city players scrimmaging and playing against other city players. Fernandez says playing against clubs from nearby boys volleyball hot beds like Boston and areas in Pennsylvania is invaluable.

“Stellar gave it that little extra,” McKee/Staten Island Tech coach Dave Mahon said. “I thought kids came in a little more polished. I thought it helped them so much understanding the game. They had a better picture overall of what you want to do in a volleyball game. Kids don’t understand what the heck we’re trying to do sometimes.”

Stellar has a long list of successful alumni, starting with Bryant grad Jacek Ratajczak, a 7-foot-2 middle who was a two-time All-American at Cal State Northridge. Numerous players have competed at every level of college and Baruch’s trip to the MOLTEN Final Four this season was helped in large part by Stellar alum Pablo Oliveira, who was named a Division III first team All-American.

But the college opportunities for boys volleyball players are not as vast as with the girls. Women’s college volleyball is a staple of most athletic departments, while men’s volleyball is still very much a niche sport found in a fraction of the amount of schools.

“It’s a shame because I know guys are interested in working hard, but I don’t know if boys clubs is financially viable,” Bronx Science coach Jeremy Bass said. “Either the price is too high and unaffordable or it wouldn’t be profitable with renting gym space and all.”

Fernandez isn’t really interested in making a profit. When the NYC Juniors club opened last year, he took no issue with McKee/Staten Island Tech stars Albert Chi and Joshua Ra staying on Staten Island to play.

“As long as they’re playing volleyball, we’re happy,” Fernandez said.

For now, though, you can count the amount of boys volleyball players in New York City getting opportunities on two hands. Fernandez plans on trying to resurrect Stellar in time for the winter season. All he really needs is a big enough space, a few hours and a low rate.